Pack Leader’s Guide to Adventure Camp Registration

WHY?

Adventure Camp is your Pack’s path to a great summer program. We know it’s hard to provide activities year-round, and we also know that Scouts who attend summer camp are far more likely to stay in Scouting. Lake Erie Council is here to help. Make Adventure Camp part of your summer plans and see your kids not stay involved outside of the school year, but see better retention, and get a kick start on Adventure requirements.

As an added bonus, Adventure Camp is open to youth not yet involved in Scouting, letting them try the best of the Scouting program to get them hooked. At the end of the week, we’ll help them transition to your local Pack after they’ve seen how awesome Scouting can be for their family.

OKAY, BUT I THINK I’LL JUST HAVE PARENTS SIGN UP THEIR KIDS.

We get it. You have tons to do as a Cubmaster or Den Leader. It would be so much off your plate to just send them the Adventure Camp link and wash your hands of it.

We encourage you not to do that. Well, we do encourage parents to check out the Adventure Camp website, but we also know that without a little help with the first step your Scouts are unlikely to take advantage of camp. It just doesn’t get done.

ADVANTAGES

Scouts want to attend with their friends.

By starting the process, you communicate that attending summer program is important for the Scout to do.

You don’t have to do all the work. You can still have parents fill out the bulk of their Scouts’ information and pay for their own Scout(s).

Coordinating together as a Pack helps parents with busy schedules to carpool their Scouts, switch in and out as volunteers with other parents as they are able.

Give parents the peace of mind that an “expert” from the Pack has their back as they try out Adventure Camp.

Read on as we walk you through how to make Adventure Camp registration easy for both parents and you.

YOU HAD ME AT RETENTION! JUST HOW LITTLE DO I NEED TO DO?

Seven simple steps. We promise, just a little effort on your part will pay off to get the most Scouts taking advantage of Adventure Camp:

Select the week your Pack will attend Adventure Camp. Not everyone will be able to make it, but we’ll take care of those stragglers afterwards.

Communicate that date to your parents and get a preliminary headcount for how many kids (both Scouts and siblings), and adult volunteers who want to attend.

Fill out the information required for the Registration Contact — that’s you! (The registration contact is the camp coordinator — at least as far as camp registrations are concerned. You’ll get the emails and reminders, and have full access to add and make changes to the registration)

Fill out the required information for Scouts and Students. At first this will just be their names. Starting May 1st, almost all fields will change to be required to checkout. But just get in the basics that you know to start. Then we’ll pass it on the the parent to finish up.

Checkout. You can pay for your own Scout, or pay the deposit for each of your campers.

Turn on Parent Portal. This is the secret ingredient to your success. Parent Portal allows you to print out individualized login codes for each of your parents in your Pack. Just print out a little card for each one of your campers to hand (or email) to the parent at the next Pack meeting. They’ll be able to log in to fill out the rest of the information like t-shirt size and dietary restriction, and make payments for just their camper(s).

Parent Portal helps facilitate payments from parents and keeps the Pack from the liability of being the middle man. Parents can pay they way they want to for their campers: credit/debit card, e-check, or by mailing in a physical check.

Note that the Pack is ultimately responsible for the balance of their registration, and will receive all communication (including the camper's pre-camp books) to distribute to campers and their parents.

ODDS AND ENDS

Pack Leadership. Attending camp with your Scouts builds your relationship with them, and gives you first-hand knowledge of requirements their fulfilling at camp. Plus, it’s tons of fun! We provide the station and program leaders, but recommend that you send one adult to serve as a Den Walker for every five campers attending from your Pack. These Den Walkers can change from day-to-day.

Have some Scouts who can’t attend the week with your Pack? No worries. They can attend any camp that works into their schedule, and we’ll place them in a similar age group.

Coordinating group transportation gets everyone to camp together, saves gas, and puts parents at ease. We highly recommend you travel as a Pack.